A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that people who consider themselves to be religious may be much more likely to want medical actions that prolong life than those who do not consider themselves to be religious. The study involved 345 patients with cancer at an advanced stage, so the test group probably has thought more, and more seriously, about death than the average population. But, the results are still interesting. The patients who considered themselves to be religious were almost three times more likely to seek life prolonging medical actions than those who did not consider themselves to be religious.
While there could be many varying explanations for these data, it is certainly interesting and not a conclusion that I would have necessarily predicted. Although, I must say that it corresponds to my personal experiences when speaking with others about death and prolonging life.
What makes these results most interesting to me is what they might say about how religious people versus non-religious people view life and the natural life cycle. (And, to be honest, this is mere speculation on my part. The study did not attempt to interpret what these findings meant in terms of overall belief or outlook on life.) I would have thought that religious people would not fear death due to their belief in a rewarding afterlife. I have spoken with many religious individuals who profess to share this view. But maybe an acceptance of the natural life cycle and a denial of an afterlife give non-believers a calm view of death. Perhaps it is more comforting to some people to believe that there will not be anything new to encounter after death.
In any event, I think these findings are interesting and I’d like to see similar studies of otherwise healthy individuals and more studies on this topic.
